Bimetallic finger ring



E E -f w. E. EccLEs BINETALLIC FINGER RING 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed July 18, 193s Y DIE MOLD /A/VESTMEA/T MOLD June 18, 1940. w. E. EccLEs snmunpxc FINGER 4111m- Filed July 1.8, lss

' 2 sheds-sheet 2 Patented June 18, 1940 l UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BIMETALLIC FING-ER RING William E. Eccles, Owatonna, Minn.

Application July-"18," 1938, Serial No. 219,708

2 Claims. (Cl. 63-15) This application is a continuation in part of tive, of a completed finger ring made from two my application Serial No. 196,045, led March 15, blanks as shown in Fig. 10.

1938. Fig. 12 is a central sectional view, in perspecl The invention herein claimed relates to bitive, of a filler piece for use in making a circular f metallic finger rings, more particularly that type bimetallic blank. 5 of ring used extensively with school, fraternity or Fig. 13 is a central sectional view, in perspecclass emblems imposed thereon. tive, of such a circular bimetallic blank.

The general object of the invention is to p-ro- Fig. 14 is a sectional view of a ring generally V duce a ring having an inner or filler piece of base similar to the one shown in Fig. 6, but having an '10 material and an .outer portion of gold, which increased thickness of noble metal in the regions 10 shall possess the wearing qualities and appearthat receive the most wear. ance of a solid gold ring. For the sake of brevity in description, I shall Aspecial object of the invention is to produce use the term base as denoting the bronze, silver a. b-imetallic ring having no solder seam or the or other relatively inexpensive material of which '115 like between the inner and outer portions, thereby the filler piece is made, and the term noble to 15 obviating the possibility of a solder seam being designate the gold or other relatively costly mavisible .or becoming discolored or opening up when terial of which the exterior of the ring is formed. the ring is worn. As will be evident from the foregoing brief Another object of the invention is to produce description of the drawings, the ller piece may a bimetallic finger ring having an increased parta-ke of various forms. For convenience in 20 thickness of gold in the regions which are subdescribing the process, I shall first refer to the jected to the most Wear. form of filler piece illustrated in Fig, 1, said piece These objects are attained by surrounding the being designated I. It consists of'two shank poriiller piece with gold by means of a casting tions 2 extending in the same plane and a central process, lportion having a concave surface 3 extending 25 In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a transversely of the filler piece. From the middle longitudinal central section, in perspective, of of the concave surface 3 projects a stem 4 which one form of .filler piece which may be employed may be of the form shown or variations thereof.

in practicing my invention. The filler piece may be made in an embossing die Fig, 2 is a sectional view of a die mold, with or in any other desired manner. The stem 4 is 30 said iiller piece positioned therein, for use in securing the ller piece within the die Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional View of said mold and the investment mold hereinbefore menller piece with a layer of wax cast thereon by tioned. If desired, a plurality of mounting stems means of said die mold. may be provided on the surface 3 to hold the filler Fig. 4 is a central vertical sectional view .of an piece firmly inl position in said molds. 35 investment mold with said filler piece positioned The die mold A may be of any preferred sectherein; the Wax having been removed. tional construction, with a recess al to receive Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectional view of said "and hold the stem 4; a mold cavity a2 of any deller piece after a covering of noble metal has 'sired form to contain the body of the filler piece d() been cast thereon in said investment mold. with casting space between the cavity walls and Fig. 6 is a central sectional view, in perspecthe body of the ller piece; and a pouring .opentive, of the completed ring. ing a3. The walls of of the cavity a2 may or may Fig, '7 is a longitudinal central section, in pernot Ahave the design for the finished ring engraved spective, of a filler piece adapted for making a in intaglio thereon. finger-ring blank of the camel-back type. Th? flller piece having been positioned within 45 Fig. a is a simiiar View of a finer piece adapted the dle mold, molten plastic material, as, for exfor making a linger ring blank of a variation of ample, Wax. iS poured HO the mold, whereby the the camel-back type. ller piece (with the exception of the stem 4) Fig. 9 is a similar view of a filler piece adapted is covered or surrounded with a layer of wax corfor making finger ring blanks in 13W@ halves, responding in thickness to the thickness of noble 50 Fig. l0 is a longitudinal central section, in permaterial with which the ller piece is subsespective, of the iiller piece of Fig. 9 after a coverquently to be covered. ing of noble metal has been cast thereon in an After the Wax has set, the filler piece is reinvestment mold. moved from the die mold, and covered with plas- Fig. 11 is a central sectional view, in perspectic material (hereinafter termed investment ma- 55 terial) which, when hard, is suitable for use in casting the noble material, as, for example, dental investment material, In Fig. 4 the investment material is designated b. The flask in which the investment material is contained is marked B. The stem 4 is embedded in the investment material.

After the investment material has set, the Wax is removed, either by heating the investment mold and its contents sufficiently to melt the Wax, the la-tter being poured out of the mold through the opening b1, or (preferably) by heating the mold and its contents to a dull red to cause the wax to burn up and to heat the ller piece. In either case the filler piece remains positioned in the mold B by means oi the stem 4. The space b2 from which the wax was removed completely surrounds the body of the rlller piece.

The desired noble metal, as, for example, molten gold of the required carat, is then poured or forced into the investment mold B through the opening b1 by means 0I air or centrifugal force, lling the space b2. If the wax was burned out, the heated filler piece becomes bonded to the gold.

After the noble metal has set, the investment mold is broken up and the composite or bimetallic blank 5 (Fig. 5) removed. Said blank consists of the iiller piece I with a covering of noble metal 6 completely surrounding it, save for the projecting stem 4, which may now be cut off flush with the gold layer covering the concave seat 3. Ii desired, the blank may be positioned in an embossing die, and the detail sharpened up under a press.

The composite blank 5 is now ready to be bent into ring form, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 5, the ends of the blank being soldered or brazed. The bending of the blank converts the concave surface 3 into a flat seat or crown upon which any desired emblem or ornament may be secured. The removal of the stem 4 left an exposed portion l of base material which is concealed by the base or bezel 8.

Instead of having one side fiat, as in Fig. 1, the filler piece may be of the camel-back form 9 shown in Fig. 7 or the form ID illustrated in Fig. 8, the ller piece, after investment in gold, being bent into ring form. Or the ring may be made ci two halves such as the blank shown in different stages in Figs. 9 and 10, the filler piece I I represented in Fig. 9 being first invested with wax and later with gold in the manner hereinbefore explained. For convenience in securing the iiller piece I I in the die mold and the investment mold, it is provided with a very small projection I2, which has been cut o' in Fig. 10. The dotted line 2a inl Fig. 9 demarcates the projection I2 from the part that becomes invested with gold. The two halves are soldered, welded or brazed together at top and bottom to form the nished ring illustrated in Fig. 11.

Fig. 12 shows a filler piece I3 made in approximately circular form, which may be invested in a die mold with wax to form a complete band, and then invested with gold to form a ring blank I4 as in Fig. 13.

It will be observed that the ends of the composite blank 5 are of solid gold. The same is true of the composite blanks in which the filler pieces 9, Il) and II are utilized. Consequently the palm side (marked 6 in Fig. 6, and a: in Fig. 14) which is subject to considerable wear is of solid gold. So, also, in the case of the blank I4, the space between the ends of the ller piece I3 is filled with solid gold.

It will also be noted that in all these variations, the filler piece is completely surrounded by a seamless shell of gold, there being no solder seam between the filler piece and the gold exterior.

As will readily be understood, the thickness of the gold shell may diiTer in different parts. For example, Fig 14 shows an increased thickness at the shoulders 'y which are subjected to considerable wear. This increase in thickness is obtained by suitably shaping the mold cavity a2.

It will thus be seen that I have produced a bimetallic finger ring having a seamless outer gold shell which is made of increased thickness in the regions exposed to the most wear and which is of solid geld at the palm side.

One of the prior-art methods oi making a bimetallic ringer ring (shown, for instance, in

Y the Vaughan Patent No. 1,170,124) involves the use of a short length of bimetallic` rod. Said rod has a core of base metal and an outer covering of gold. The ends' of the piece of rod are swaged to make them longer, more slender and tapering, the blank thus formed being then bent into ring -iorm. The swaging operation necessarily reduces the thickness of the gold on the end portions of the blank, and as a consequence that part of the ring which receives a great deal of wear, namely, the part at the inner or palm side of the ring, has a very thin covering of gold. As hereinbefore noted, my ring may have any desired thickness of gold at the point or points that receive the most Wear.

The swaged ends of the bimetallic rod, ci course, contain a core of base metal; therefore the completed ring is not of solid gold at the inner or palm side, whereas in my ring the inner or palm side is or may be of solid gold.

I claim as my invention:

l. A bimetallic finger ring having a filler piece of base meta-l and a seamless covering oi noble metal, the palm side of said ring being of solid noble metal.

2. A bimetallic finger ring having a ller piece of base metal and a seamless covering of noble metal, the thickness of said covering at the shoulders of the ring being greater than at other points, to resist wear, and the palm side of the ring being of solid noble metal.

WILLIAM E. ECCLES. 

